Exit 3 plan important to future of Hardeeville

Growth is coming to Hardeeville. The question is how fast and how much.

If Exit 3 on Interstate 95 is built out like Hardeeville, Jasper, Beaufort officials and developers propose, the interchange will become an economic catalyst.

Exit 3 will lead to the proposed RiverPort Business Park, a more than 5,100-acre project by Stratford Land Fund. Plans for the business park include warehousing, distribution and light industrial, commercial and mixed use.

Development of the exit has taken cooperation between two counties, the city of Hardeeville and Stratford Land. The group in December signed a memorandum of understanding, creating a cooperative partnership. The partnership also paved the way for state funds to develop Exit 3 to the tune of about $4 million.

“It demonstrates the partnership of the various public entities working together and what’s capable of being accomplished by doing so,” said Weston Newton, chairman of the Beaufort County Council. “Ultimately, the impacts to the Lowcountry region with regard to the transportation project and the extension of the Bluffton Parkway means improved mobility and improved evacuation process but attendant to that are the job creation projections and economic development.”

Ted Felder, a Lowcountry government relations consultant working with SLF, knows the Riverport project well. It was under discussion years before the first application for funding was made in 2010 when Felder was Hardeeville city manager.

“Before anything can be done with RiverPort, the exit has to be in place,” Felder said. “Hardeeville is already one of the fastest-growing communities in South Carolina. The economic downturn slowed it all down but this will put it on the path it was on. This will be a tremendous boost to the morale of the community.”

Keeping families closer to home

More than 4,000 people leave Jasper County every day to work somewhere else, nearly half of them go to Beaufort County. That’s according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006 Commuting Patterns report that also states nearly 6,000 workers commute into Jasper for employment in schools, health care and social assistance, construction, waste management, accommodation and food services and other jobs.

“There are people living in Hardeeville who commute early in the morning, leaving the house while their children are still in bed. By the time they come home, the kids are on their way to bed,” Felder said.

Newton agrees with the impact an additional exit in Hardeeville could have on economic development projects like RiverPort and others. Adding Exit 3 to existing Exits 5 and 8 will only help.

“Specifically, the RiverPort obviously has the biggest tract, is the most advanced and has potentially 24,000 in job creations in this area. Fundamentally, these dollars represent returning state dollars to this Lowcountry region,” Newton said.

The 24,000 jobs will be a boon to the economic health of the area, said Felder, adding that light industrial brings in manufacturing as well.

“The land right around the exit is going to involve a component of interstate commercial and retail as anyone would expect,” said Felder. “The very northern part of the property, a project which is way down the road, would involve other commercial enterprises but the roughly 2,000 acres that count the most are the industrial acres between Exits 3 and 17, minus the property that literally sits on the four corners of the new exit.

“That’s real jobs. That’s not counting the construction jobs. This one exit will open so many benefits and tremendous economic development applications,” Felder said.

In addition to the economic benefits, the exit will add another Hurricane Evacuation Route to the local area, decreasing the traffic pressure on existing arteries.

Getting the money

The $3.9 million set aside by the state is for the cost of creating a set of bid-ready plans for the building phase for Exit 3. Intergovernmental cooperation was part of the requirement to secure the funds.

“What we’re attempting to do is actually end up with a set of bid-ready construction plans when we’re finished,” said Hardeeville City Manager Bob Nanni.

Those plans elevate the project from artist renderings through conceptual engineering to the bid-ready version with right-of-ways, drainage and topography outlined, he said. When the project goes up for bid, the plans will enable contractors to examine the requirements and know exactly what has to be done.

SLF will donate any land required to provide rights-of-way for the project, Nanni said. He said preparing the plans could take 18 months or longer, and that is if there are no changes as a result of surveying or other delays. This is a long-term project.

Because the Exit 3 project also includes federal money, a Local Public Agency (LPA) had to be designated to oversee the spending.

“Somebody has to shepherd the subcontractors and professional trades, and Beaufort County has a much larger staff and some experience with this size job,” Nanni said. “They’ll be required to make sure the project stays within budget at each stage and that the funds are spent where they’re supposed to be spent. It’s all written in the agreement.”

Rob McFee, Beaufort County director of engineering and infrastructure, said a team would select firms for the project not based just on price but on qualifications.

“We don’t look at price exclusively but obviously this is public money so we look at price, but it’s not the only aspect,” he said. “The firm that has done the best job with the proposal and the interview we will enter into final negotiations to nail down exact project scope and fee. Only then we will have complied with all the local, state and federal regulations as we engage this firm.”

If the cost to prepare the plans exceeds the allocated $500,000, SLF will put in an additional amount up to $469,500.

“Jasper’s role will be to work with the city of Hardeeville in monitoring and teaming up with Beaufort County as they administer the funds for the project. The project is both beneficial to Beaufort County and Jasper County,” said Andrew Fulghum, Jasper County administrator. “Jasper’s role is specifically applied to Exit 3 — the city of Hardeeville project, but that project complements the roadwork that Beaufort County is doing and Exit 3 will be wherever the Bluffton Parkway terminates at Interstate 95.”